Imogen Charleston Ceramics

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Imogen Charleston Ceramics

Handcrafted ceramics using Dorset clays, foraged and waste materials Imogen’s primary material is clay.

Growing up on the Dorset coast with a very creative family, Imogen was encouraged to draw, sculpt clay and play musical instruments from an early age. After leaving school she studied art, then electronics, returning to art to complete a BA in Applied Art & Design in 2012. She founded Moon Studio Ceramics in 2015 and teaches at her studio in Christchurch. She is co-founder and puppeteer with The Paper Cinema, who have toured their live animation shows internationally since 2004.

25/10/2026

A quick fly over my stand at Potfest today.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by, chatted and took a piece of Dorset home for their own.

I’ll be doing a wee online shop listing soon, will let you know when that is. In the meantime if you spy a piece on the grid you like you can always message me to purchase.

Next show will be Potfest Glasgow.

24/10/2026

Large serving bowl from a recent wood firing with the Ridgeway Potters in Bill Crumblholme’s Olsen kiln.

Two simple ash glazes, one with a Dorset ball clay. The colours have worked and come together on this bowl. The warm toasted orange contrasts with the blue opalescent and soft green.

23/10/2026

Tables are laid and ready for day one of Potfest in Penrith.
Open 10 to 4:30pm

Come and find me at stand 39

Potfest

19/10/2026

Small faceted cup from the recent firing in my philosophers kiln.

I only made a small batch of these this time, and they all came out looking how I wanted. Half of them in this simple ash glaze with three ingredients. Made with waste ash from a previous firing, feldspar and a local Dorset ball clay.

I’m in awe of the milky blue tones. And how they sit on the warm burnt orange tones of the clay. The perfect match. It still surprises me how that little fast fire wood kiln can turn out surfaces like these.

These wee faceted yunomi hold around 200ml and I’ll be bringing a few with me to Potfest in Penrith this coming weekend.

You can also send me a dm to buy.

18/10/2026

A good wood firing is the best feeling. I am happy with how these mugs turned out.
Three glazes - a shino, a temoku and wood ash.
A scaled up version of my smaller sip cups. These were thrown with about 1lb of clay and hold around 10oz of coffee (or tea!).

Brining some with me next week to Potfest in Penrith.

15/10/2026

Firing done and kiln unloaded. Very happy with these. New handled cups (mugs some of you might say) have turned out really nice. Some successful glaze combinations.
I’ve also scaled up my wee sip cups to have more volume, which some of you have been waiting for.
Some nice flashing on a ramen bowl. I like to leave these natural clay on the exterior to show off the flame work and qualities of the wood firing.

Time to sort through now and pick the ones coming with me to Potfest next week.
I’ve also got a small clutch heading to Bad Hand Coffee … keep your eyes peeled for those.

12/10/2026

Fourth firing of the tiny fire horse kiln done.
Started at 7am and done by 5pm with done 11 down. It went very well, the best one yet.
So tomorrow it’s time to go and see what we cooked up. I’ve got cups and mugs, and bowls and jars in this firing.

Thanks to Ruth Readman and Nix Hawkins Ceramics for the team work.

Am so very grateful to Coda Music and Arts Trust for the support with giving me a spot to have the kiln too.

10/10/2026

A view of the table yesterday.
A selection of mugs (yes, cups with handles!) sip cups (a mug without a handle) and faceted yunomi.
I’ve also made a handful of jars. These are something I’ve been mulling over making for some time. Finally got there. Let’s see if the lots still fit at the firing.
Most of my glazes are ash based, with a few different blends. Some with feldspar, some with addition of local clay.

Time to go and load the kiln, firing tomorrow.

Potfest at the end of the month

07/10/2026

How I trim the foot of one of my sip cups.

Starting with very rudimentary marking out, I use a trusty potters knife to cut away the basic form. That is refined with a flexible kidney.

The clay was a tad on the dry side to how I prefer, but we work with what we have. Especially with very short time until the wood firing.

Time does seem to speed up while I’m working on these.

I like how the base feels round in the hand, and yet the facets are angular.

04/10/2026

The last few days have been spent mostly at the wheel throwing cups and mugs.

Here is a short video of how I shape and facet these pots. While still on the wheel I slice into the wall with a wire. I enjoy the dance we have - me and the clay - as if I cut to thin it’s all over and I’ll have to start again. If I don’t take enough away the wall will be thick and the pot too heavy.

Handles on tomorrow, which I’ll probably enjoy more than editing this little clip of footage together.

One week to go until I fire up my kiln. In the meantime there is wood to prep and shelves to clean and all the other things that go into the firing.

Address

Moon Studio Ceramics, Christchurch
Dorset
BH237AB

Website

http://imogencharleston.co.uk/

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